Religion

Challenges for Prayer

Student ministries continue to play a vital role.Movements such as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IFES), Navigators,CCCI, Campus Outreach, Chi Alpha, Campus America, Campus Church Net, SVM2 and others combine to generate effective outreach, discipleship and prayer on campuses. The large Urbana conferences of InterVarsity, The Traveling Team and other ministries challenge many students with the needs of a lost world. The ministries of Navigators andCCCIhave diversified into a wide range of activities in the USA and around the world. The Passion conferences profoundly impact the lives of many thousands of students every year. It is in their college years that the largest percentage of Christians fall away; yet, student movements have been at the heart of almost every revival and missions movement in Americas history.

The 38-million-strong African-American communitysuffered immensely due to its origins in slavery and to subsequent racial discrimination. The civil rights movement and the election of the first black president have achieved great change in attitudes and awareness, but for many the cycle of unemployment, poverty, family instability and crime is unbroken. Pray for:

a)Young people at risk.Over half of inner-city black males fail to complete secondary school. Many are in prison or in gangs. Poverty, drugs and violence are rampant. Murder is the major cause of death for inner-city, African-American males ages 15 to 34. Pray for an expression of Christian faith that enables these men to leave their shackles and find meaning, belonging and fulfilment in Christ.

b)African-American Muslims,whose numbers have rapidly grown up to two million  most of these from a Christian background. Sunnis account for the largest proportion; some small but vocal minorities belong to Black nationalist groups and to the Nation of Islam organization. Most were drawn to Islam as a result of failings in the Church. Pray for effective and loving outreach to them.

c)Black churches.More than any other race in the USA, African-Americans are likely to be Christian. Many of the largest and most vigorous evangelical churches are Black, but they are often isolated from mainstream evangelical Christianity and from meaningful involvement in missions. Pray for a unity of believers that transcends ethnicity. Pray for a new move of the Spirit of God in these churches.

d)Community impact.African-American churches have always had a strong redemptive influence in their communities. This is increasing as congregations now join to effect deliberate and strategic transformation in the neediest areas.